During operation, high-temperature combustion gases flow through different portions of many gas turbine engines. These high-temperature combustion gases flow over and/or adjacent to various hot gas path components within the gas turbine engine, exposing the components to elevated temperatures during normal operation. As gas turbines are modified to increase efficiency and decrease cost, the temperatures within the hot gas path are being increased while the geometries of the components are becoming more complex. In order to continue increasing the temperatures within the hot gas path, the turbine components in this area must be constructed of materials which can withstand such temperatures.
Conventional discrete transition pieces mounted at discrete clock positions between segments alter the hot gas flow through an otherwise substantially annular channel, particularly along the outer wall of the annular channel. Each conventional non-rotating turbine component is also mounted at a fixed clock position, but the transition piece spacing is not the same as the turbine component spacing.
Turbine components in a particular row in a gas turbine engine, however, are conventionally designed to all have substantially the same structure. Cooling channels in the turbine components are limited by the fabrication techniques. For a non-rotating nozzle, the contour of the nozzle platform and the location of cooling channels in the nozzle platform affect the efficiency of flow of the hot gas past the nozzle, the efficiency of the gas turbine, the efficiency and uniformity of cooling of the nozzle platform, and the effective lifespan of the nozzle platform.